Last day: Sellos of Approval

In order to be an official pilgrim of the Camino, you must collect sellos, or stamps, in your Credential del Peregrino booklet at churches and other places along the way.

For those starting from Sarria, as we did, you must collect at least two sellos a day.

Some sellos are from typical places: cafes, hostels and hotels where you stay, churches…and others are more unusual and unexpected.

I got one sello thanks to this plate of squid and French fries…

…and this one was from walking by this little donkey, who had his own little sello stand. You could feed him a carrot for a small donation.

People would compare sellos, and ask, “Did you get the donkey sello?” Or: “Did you get the one of the red wax feet?” (Yes to both).

The certification process requires waiting in a long line by the Cathedral in Santiago. Had we known we’d be standing in line for two hours, we would have found our hotel first. But we wouldn’t have met Kathi and Peter, world travelers extraordinaire. Here they are, showing off their sellos from an earlier pilgrimage to temples in Japan. They received “dual pilgrim” status!

Mom talking sellos as she waits to get her certificate.

My name in Latin on my certificate of completion. This was free, but for mere three euros you can get this cool certificate of details about your journey:

Getting on the plane to Madrid and going into airplane mode – see you soon!